Medicare Plans Guide

There are plenty of Medicare plans to choose from if you have not taken a good look at them. With those numbers, it is easy to feel overwhelmed when sorting through the choices, such as Medicare Part D, Original Medicare, Medicare Supplements, and Medicare Advantage. To help you out, we provide this Medicare plans guide so you can make an informed decision on your health plan.

When you read our guide, you will gain better knowledge about the health insurance plans that are available for you. Armed with knowledge, you can make a smarter choice before you sign up for a plan. You will have peace of mind knowing that you are well covered by the plan you picked.

You may use our site to search for quotes about the different Medicare plans. Since the plans’ rates change at any time, you should come back here to get the recent pricing information before signing up. This will ensure that you have accurate information that you need to make the best choice for your situation.

Medicare is only available to seniors 65 or above. However, you may qualify for it earlier, if you have a form of disability. But it only happens in some states.

Among the Medicare plans available, Original Medicare is the only one sold by Medicare. The rest of the Medicare plans are available through private health insurance companies.

The traditional Medicare covers for your inpatient and outpatient medical expenses. This coverage makes up for Parts A and B. The other parts of Medicare are sold by private insurance companies, such as AARP, Aetna, Mutual of Omaha, and several others. These plans would include Medicare Supplements or Medigap, Medicare Part C or Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D or drug plan.

For Original Medicare, you can enroll around your 65th birthday. Medicare gives you a seven-month window. It starts three months before your birthday and another three months after your birth month. With those times, you have plenty of time to study the Medicare plans before signing up for one of them. You should take advantage of this window. If you failed to enroll during this period, the plans will cost more.

The overall cost of a Medicare plan will depend on several factors. These would include your financial situation and overall health. If you paid taxes for several years, then it lowers the overall Medicare costs.

As the term suggests, this type of plan will work with your Original Medicare. It gives you some coverage that complements traditional Medicare coverage. There are eight varieties of Medicare Supplement. Some older plans are no longer available to the general public but they can only be accessed by existing subscribers.

Some supplement plans are now canceled. These plans, however, are still open to those who signed up for them before they were delisted.

Medicare supplements will cover you for various healthcare costs. None of these costs are covered by traditional Medicare. In that case, don’t expect to overlap between these two plans. Thus, you don’t have to worry about paying for the same coverage twice.

Here are the expenses that supplemental insurance will cover:

• Part A yearly deductible
• Part B annual deductible
• Part B excess charges
• Nursing care coinsurance
• Hospice coinsurance
• Coinsurance for inpatient
• Coinsurance for outpatient
• First three bags of blood not covered by Original Medicare
• International travel costs for emergency care

Among the 8 basic supplement plans, some of them cover most of these items. Others, however, will only pay a small number of them or cover them partially. That’s why it is ideal that you look at your healthcare expenses so you will know the kind of health plan that you need.

Medicare Supplements are not for every senior out there. However, many seniors would benefit from this type of plan because of how they cover supplemental expenses. Seniors who can benefit these plans the most are those with active Original Medicare but they still struggle to pay for the remaining healthcare expenses.

If you struggle to make ends meet and you want to have extra coverage, then having a Medicare Supplement can help you out. With this type of health plan, you can customize your coverage to suit your needs. If you think that this type of plan suits your situation where you have difficulty paying for your healthcare, then you must check out how Supplement plans can help you.

You should study all plans to help you determine if they are a good fit for you. As you look at their coverage and how much they would cost, you would realize that you could actually save money by getting the extra coverage from this plan.

It is a high coverage supplemental plan that covers the majority of your supplemental expenses. It leaves you little to pay using your own money. With that in mind, it is a useful plan that lets you get through your finances if you have medical problems or if you need to visit a healthcare facility frequently.

The costs of going to your doctor for medical checkups or being hospitalized can easily add up. But Plan G can help in minimizing those expenses to make it easier for you to handle them. Plan G will pay for all of the items we have listed above but not for the Part B yearly deductible. This expense will need to be handled by you.

It covers you for slightly less. That’s why Plan N is for seniors who want a more economical health plan than what Plan G can offer. With this plan, you are covered for the majority of the items listed above.

But it will not include Part B yearly deductible, Part B copayments, and Part B excess charges. The rest of the items are included in this plan. In that case, Plan N will cover Part A deductible, hospice copays, Part A copays, international travel exchange costs, blood use, and copays for nursing care.

Most major health insurance companies sell Supplement plans and they offer them at affordable rates. Then, they give their customers several member benefits. They are the companies with excellent reputations and they offer outstanding value for their clients. Before you decide on a health insurance plan, make sure to compare the plan rates of these companies.

It is a type of Medicare plan that is compatible with Original Medicare but not with Medicare Supplement. Medicare Advantage can serve as a Medicare replacement. It can handle most of your out-of-pocket expenses.

Any Advantage plans can cover you adequately. They handle your entire Parts A and B. These plans can also handle any urgently needed medical care and emergency medical services. You can also find plans that will pay for your yearly checkups or prescription drug costs if the plan has a Medicare Part D drug plan.

Most Medicare plans work at any healthcare facility accepting Medicare. It means that you can get full coverage using your plan.

However, it is not the same as Medicare Advantage plans. You can only get full coverage if you go to a medical facility that agrees with your health insurance provider.

For instance, if you have an MA plan from BCBS but you visit a healthcare facility that does not accept your BCBS MA plan, then your treatment will not be covered. In that case, you will have to pay for it using your own money.

The standard Medicare Advantage plan is HMO. This type of Advantage plan will only cover you when you stay within the network. If you go off the network, then you will pay for your medical care using your own money.

With this type of plan, you need to know the doctors and healthcare facilities, as well as pharmacies, that belong to your plan’s network. Otherwise, you will be paying a high price for the medical service that you receive.

If you don’t like such restriction, then you might consider a PPO Advantage plan. It gives you full coverage when you stay within the plan’s network.

But if you go outside the network, then your plan will still cover you, though, partially. In that case, you will still not get the full benefits of your plan. That said, you need to be careful in receiving treatment from the off-network facility.

Does Medicare Advantage plan meet your needs? If it does, then consider purchasing it from the best insurance companies that we have listed below.

These companies sell Advantage plans in your area and they offer them at great pricing. Plus, they are known to offer excellent customer benefits and a variety of Advantage policies.

If you take a lot of medicines per year, then you can benefit from having Medicare Part D. It is a drug plan that you can purchase from private insurers. It can cover your prescription drugs. It doesn’t matter whether they are generic or brand names. This drug plan will surely cover them.

The coverage that you can get from this plan will depend on the health insurance provider you signed up for. It also comes with tiered coverage. In that case, some prescription drugs will be covered fully while others will only be covered partially.

Because every drug plan is different, you should look through it completely. Make sure that the plan will cover the drugs you are taking. Although the plan may not cover your medicines entirely, you should get a plan that gives you enough coverage.

You may use our site to help you compare Part D rates. With our online free tool, you will know which insurance companies are charging less for their Part D plans. Keep in mind that you can purchase Part D plan as a standalone or you can pick a Medicare Advantage plan with built-in Part D. Between the two options, it is better to get an Advantage plan with Part D than to purchase it separately.

We hope that through our Medicare plans guide, you can make the right choice. If you have further questions about Medicare plans, please don’t hesitate to call us. We will answer all questions you may have about Medicare plans. Our health insurance experts will guide you in choosing the right options for your situation. You may use our site as often as you need so you can find a plan that will give adequate coverage while saving money on your healthcare.